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Coca-Cola announces the launch of “SMS Mission Recycling” and dedicates 900th school with revitalized facilities to the community in Bidadi under the ongoing Support My School (SMS) programme

23/08/2017

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SMS Mission Recycling project aims at sensitising community and school children on waste management with a focus on proper collection and segregation of plastic waste

38 schools have been revitalised in Karnataka as part of Support My School (SMS).

SMS has been launched in more than 5 schools in and around Bangalore (Bangalore Cluster)

1000 schools will be revitalized under the SMS campaign before 2017

Bidadi, Karnataka, August 23, 2017: Coca-Cola’s Support My School (SMS) campaign, an initiative to build happy, healthy and active schools for students in rural and semi-urban areas, today dedicated 900th improved school infrastructure along with dedicating 5 other schools in and around Bangalore to the community at of Jnana Vikasa Higher Primary School, Bidadi. The SMS program, which is closely aligned to the government’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign, has renovated the infrastructure of the schools including separate toilets for boys and girls, access to clean water and better sanitation, a library and a science lab. Round Table India, Charities Aid Foundation and World Vision India, implementing partners for SMS, worked on the ground to help revitalize facilities in 38 schools in Karnataka.

The dedication ceremony also saw the launch of “SMS Mission Recycling” project which aims at sensitising community and school children on waste management with a focus on proper collection and segregation of plastic waste. The pilot project of Mission Recycling, in partnership with Plan International, will be implemented in 20 Schools in four locations (Barabanki, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai) where the SMS programme is ongoing covering a total 6000 children and 20,000 community members.

Mr. C. M. Lingappa (MLC cum Chairman of JVS, Bidadi), said, “Partnering with Coca-Cola India has been a great experience. With our collaborative efforts through SMS, we are striving to bring about a positive change in the lives of more than 11000 children from 38 government schools in Karnataka. Our initiatives specifically emphasize on provisioning of sanitation facilities, access to water and sports as key areas of intervention.”

Mr. Moriya Philip, National Convener Programs, Round Table India added, “We are indeed delighted to be a part of this very special event today. The programme has worked on ensuring access to clean and secure sanitation, drinking water and play grounds for school children to enable improvement in the overall school environment and the health and well-being of our children. The initiative has also prioritized the adoption of improved hygiene practices, supporting children to become cleanliness ambassadors in their homes and communities. We are immensely proud of our partnership that has benefited schools in Bengaluru Cluster, and the commendable support we have received to develop these schools as models in the region.”

Mr. Dhananjay Kulkarni, Zonal Head, Public Affairs & Communication, Karnataka, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. said “In Karnataka, we have been able to positively impact the lives of thousands of students (majority of which comprises girls) through our interventions. This is a great example of how civil society and corporate have come together to make it happen.”

He added, “Our long-term vision is to leverage the scale and resources of our entire system to ensure that all our packaging material is reused and recycled to minimize its environmental impact, while creating livelihood opportunities for waste collection workers. To support recycling, we will kick-start the PET recycling campaign in Karnataka this year with the target of recycling about 75% PET waste by 2020.”

SMS is a WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) initiative that aims to improve basic amenities in government schools like separate toilets for boys and girls and access to water. The Schools revitalized under the campaign have served as model schools in several districts and have led to enhanced community engagement and higher emphasis on attendance and enrolment. SMS is on track on its journey of touching 1000 schools by 2017 under the initiative.

Overall as part of SMS campaign, 38 schools have been revitalized in Karnataka along with different implementing partners including Plan India and Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), till date which is positively impacting more than 11,000 students.

About Support My School Campaign:

Coca-Cola India & NDTV launched Support My School in association with the UN-Habitat, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in 2011. It undertakes the following activities:

Provision of improved access to water

Appropriate sanitation facility for girls and boys

Improvement in the overall school infrastructure and environment

Provision for sports and recreational facilities and

Recharging groundwater through rainwater harvesting

With such necessary amenities in place, schools are able to provide a cleaner and healthier environment more conducive to learning.

Schweppes, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its bottling partners and through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Sprite and Thums Up – being the top two selling sparkling beverages.

The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Coca-Cola Support My School, Thums Up VEER, Coca-Cola Parivartan, Maaza Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint. For further information on the Company’s India operations and its products, please visit: www.coca-colaindia.com. Follow us on twitter @CocaCola_Ind, or on facebook at www.facebook.com/cocacolaindia/

About Plan India:

Plan India, a member of Plan International Federation, is a nationally registered independent child development organisation committed to creating a lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable and excluded children, their families and communities

For over 35 years, Plan India and its partners have improved the lives of millions of children by providing them access to protection, basic education, proper healthcare, a healthy environment, livelihood opportunities and participation in decisions which affect their lives.

About Round Table India:

Round Table is an organization of young men aimed at promoting community service and goodwill in National & International Affairs. Round Table is present in 67 Countries worldwide with over 65,000 members. In India there are more than 280 Chapters / Tables spread across 105 Cities & Towns with over 4000 members who are entrepreneurs, technocrats & professionals.

Round Table India is involved in building Class Rooms, Toilets and providing other amenities like Drinking water facility, Library, Science lab etc to schools across the country that are catering to children from underprivileged sections of the society. Since 1997 Round Table India has built over 5377 Classrooms in 2172 Schools impacting 5.92 Million children across India at an outlay of Rs.179.19 Crores.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola system in India is comprised of Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. (CCIPL), the concentrate manufacturing entity and 15 authorised bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), which are responsible for the production of ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic beverages under the Trademarks of TCCC, their distribution and sale in the territory of India. The system also comprises the India branch office of Coca-Cola India Inc., which provides guidance in relation to development of business in India.